Was it sandwichgate, or just one naughty boy?

"It's like One Direction is here," said one exasperated teacher as she looked at the mob of students, camera phones at the ready, surging towards Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

But there was nothing sinister in their expressions, no malice or anger.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard amid the throngs at Marsden State High School in Brisbane's south.

Photo: dnowicki@fairfaxmedia.com.au

Just kids excited to meet someone "famous". And at some point, half a sandwich was thrown.

Before Ms Gillard arrived for the 11.15am event, students lined the pathway which led to the auditorium where the speeches and morning tea was to be had.

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They were polite, offering either an exuberant "GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO MARSDEN STATE HIGH SCHOOL, THIS WAY PLEASE", or a mumbled "good morn..... welcometomarsdenstatehighschoolthiswayplease".

When Ms Gillard arrived, you heard it before you saw it.

Students appeared out of nowhere to cheer and clap and try and sneak a selfie with the Prime Minister in frame. If they managed to get even half of Ms Gillard's head in shot, they celebrated.

There were some boos. I didn't hear any calls of "loser", but these are kids we are talking about. It's possible.

But mostly there were squeals of excitement. Not necessarily for Julia Gillard or her politics. But that someone who was regularly on the news, someone whose face they knew from television was at their school.

Ms Gillard gave a short speech, implored people to enjoy their Australia's Biggest Morning Tea and bought a mug to support the Cancer Council.

She tried to make her way to the food area for a "cuppa" but she was mobbed from all sides, from people wanting photos.

Her staff pushed her through, stopping every couple of steps for another photo or to sign an autograph, before she eventually reached a small courtyard.

A line of people appeared before her. Each wanting a photo. Each smiling. Adults and students from Marsden State High, community groups and surrounding schools.

The chatter in the line was upbeat. Ms Gillard smiled a politician's smile for each and every photo, posing longer if the photo wasn't to someone's liking.

And then, with another commitment - the Autism Queensland Centre in Sunnybank, where Ms Gillard and Premier Campbell Newman were signing the National Disability Insurance Scheme agreement - the main reason she was in Queensland - Ms Gillard's staff began to move her back to her car.

There were more photos, which Ms Gillard stopped for, maybe annoying those who were trying to keep to a timetable, but thrilling those who got to pose.

There was one student holding a handwritten "Kevin Rudd 2013" sign. There were a few more who spoke about Mr Rudd. There were others who called the Prime Minister "Julia" and said let out sighs of disappointment if they didn't get their request met.

But as she walked to her vehicle, the school kids kept coming with their scraps of paper, their phones and their smiles and Ms Gillard seemed to oblige when she could.

She was loaded into the car with a large group of students cheering her on.

As the door closed, some of those students got into a game of one-up-manship "I touched her toes!" "She touched me!"

And then she was gone, leaving just the school leaders, their blazers neatly pressed, looking slightly bemused.

"Woah," one of them said.

"That was intense. But great!"

Somewhere in there, half a Vegemite sandwich was thrown, allegedly by a student. Within half an hour of Ms Gillard leaving the auditorium reports were flying around the country referencing "sandwichgate" and claims that large numbers of students had heckled the Prime Minister and called her "loser".

Afterwards the Prime Minister laughed it off.

"Far be it for me to say that the media errs on the side of the dramatic," she said.

"Far be it for me to say that.

"But I think out of hundreds and hundreds screaming over-excited kids, one kid thought they might be just a little bit naughty and had a little squealing sense of delight as they did it,

"So there was half a sandwich, which was really on the ground, it wasn't anywhere else.

"A bit of hijinks."

And then, with premier Campbell Newman, Ms Gillard signed the agreement which saw Queensland take up the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

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There is no "-gate" here. Just a "historic" day for Queensland and some very excited disabled people, their families and carers seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

But never mind that. Half a sandwich landed on the ground. Let's all talk about that.